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Seeking Justice for a Vietnamese Community
One year ago, over 200 residents of New Orleans East and members of coalitions
from across Louisiana rallied outside the gates of the
Chef Menteur Landfill to celebrate the closing of the unprotected
hazardous dump. Although this was a huge victory for the community, it was only
one step toward increasing the environmental quality of life in the city.
More than 200,000 cubic yards of waste from Katrina were dumped in the landfill,
which is unlined and is now leaking toxins into a canal used by the Vietnamese
community for irrigation and fishing, says Sierra Club Environmental Justice
Organizer Darryl Malek-Wiley.
"We want them to remove the waste and reuse, recycle and compost what they
can," says Malek-Wiley, who is working with the Mary Queen of
Viet Nam
Community
Development
Corporation (MQVNCDC) on other projects as well, such as water-testing canals
in the community and establishing a 20-acre urban farm.
The Sierra Club, MQVNCDC,
and the Holy
Cross Neighborhood Association are strengthening
their partnerships by meeting twice a month for a Friendship Dinner at a local
Vietnamese restaurant, and the Club will present a workshop
for the three groups in September.
The photos below were taken by Malek-Wiley at a rally held by the MQVNCDC on
August 20.
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